Stover calls on town to find space for cemetery, crematorium

Thursday

Nov 1, 2007 at 2:00 AM

By Jason Graziadei I&M Assistant Editor

During a Wednesday morning workshop session, the Board of Selectmen discussed potential new revenue sources, and heard a proposal for a new town cemetery and crematorium from Town Clerk Catherine Flanagan Stover.

Without a quorum of selectmen present – Brian Chadwick, Allen Reinhard and Patty Roggeveen were absent – the board could take no formal action, but heard from town administrator Libby Gibson and Flanagan Stover about their ideas.

A new town cemetery would require about 25 acres, and could yield approximately 20,000 graves, Flanagan Stover said. She added that graves could be sold in “lots” of two, four or eight plots, and each lot could be sold for up to $4,000 to Nantucket residents. A separate, higher, price could be designated for off-island residents, Flanagan Stover said, and generate even more money.

“We would like to encourage the town to look into a new town cemetery,” Flanagan Stover said. “The state of the cemeteries now is shameful. They have not been taken care of. We think this would be a great service to the residents of Nantucket.”

She added that a crematorium would require only an acre of property and cost about $58,000, but could process four cremations per day, or about 250 per year.

“People sent off island to be cremated - it’s expensive, so this would be a brilliant service for the residents,” Flanagan Stover said. “Fifty percent of the deaths we register are cremations.”

Following Flanagan Stover’s presentation, Gibson discussed several potential new revenue sources, including a rental car fee, a seasonal rental tax on vacation homes, increase in town permit fees, an increase in the fee for the disposal of residential household solid waste, and other “impact” fees.

Gibson said the only rental vehicles that currently pay the $100 rental license fee are those which are registered off-island. She added that the town currently issues about $700 vehicle rental stickers at no charge to vehicles registered on Nantucket, and the town could write a new bylaw allowing them to be charged a fee.

“It seems to me it would be fair to charge every rental car a fee,” selectman Michael Kopko said.

An across-the-board increase of fees for such things as building permits and liquor licenses was also discussed. Gibson said the town is currently charging the maximum for some of the permits it issues, but not others. She specifically mentioned the all-alcohol liquor license for restaurants, which the town charges $2,700 for, but is statutorily allowed to charge up to $5,000 for.

“In the past we thought it was something that wouldn’t generate a lot more revenue and make people angry,” Gibson said.

“People are just going got have to get over it,” Kopko responded.

Selectmen chairman Whitey Willauer asked Gibson to prepare a list of the current fees the town charges to obtain licenses and permits, and what the maximum allowable fee is for each.

The board also discussed a pending bill authored by the town of Brewster that would extend the local room occupancy tax to private vacation home rentals. The bill, sponsored by Dennis state representative Cleon Turner, would give towns the option of extending the local 4 percent room occupancy tax applied to hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts, to private homeowners who rent their residences.

In February, the Board of Selectmen voted to draft a letter of support for the legislation, which is currently pending before the Committee on Revenue in the state House of Representatives.

“Municipalities are constantly under pressure to seek new and/or alternative revenue sources,” the selectmen wrote. “This option appears to be a significant source of untapped revenue, which, rather than burdening the local taxpayer, essentially allows for the collection of revenue to help offset municipal costs associated with short-term rentals.”

The current room occupancy tax on inns and hotels generates approximately $1 million in revenue per year for Nantucket.

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